Following the privatization of former state-owned enterprises and the liberalization of markets in recent decades, regulation has become an important public policy, whose responsibility has in many cases been delegated to independent agencies. During the past 15 years, these regulatory agencies have become powerful actors in the governance of different policy domains across Europe and beyond. A significant and increasing share of policy making is thus carried out by institutions that are not elected, are independent from elected politicians and insulated from democratic institutions. These developments pose serious challenges for democratic accountability.
National regulatory agencies are increasingly embedded in international, interdependent networks of regulators, whose establishment is promoted by supranational bodies such as the EU Commission. This project examines whether networks significantly contribute to the promotion of "best practices" among these agencies through "peer pressure" and mutual accountability. To analyze this is crucial for assessing and improving the performance of regulators.
Furthermore, in order to assess the public accountability of regulatory agencies, the project also studies their communication practices targeted at the media, governments, and other actors that are likely to monitor and evaluate their performance. With its research results, the project aims to increase public awareness about the regulatory activity of agencies and to contribute to the improvement of their performance and their democratic accountability.
